Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde pays tribute to ‘I’ll Stand By You’ co-writer Billy Steinberg

Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde has paid tribute to songwriter Billy Steinberg, who, along with his songwriting partner Tom Kelly, co-wrote the band’s classic tune “I’ll Stand By You.”

Steinberg died Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 75.

“Very sad to hear of the passing of my dear friend Billy Steinberg,” Hynde wrote on social media. “Billy and I, along with his songwriting partner Tom Kelly, enjoyed hours of mirth writing songs together in LA and London.”

“It was with Billy and Tom that I learned to collaborate with other songwriters…. and we wrote some crackers, including I’ll Stand By You,” she added. “Billy, a gentle soul and great talent will be greatly missed.”

“I’ll Stand By You,” a top-20 hit for the Pretenders, appeared on their 1994 album, Last of the Independents, which featured several other songs co-written by Hynde, Steinberg and Kelly. Hynde helped induct Steinberg and Kelly into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.

Steinberg and Kelly also wrote such iconic tunes as Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” Heart’s “Alone” and The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame.”